There is an old joke that hurts because it is too close to reality:
Pablo Escobar announced the price of cocaine to the whole country on the radio, but some Instagram shops still cannot write the price under a product.
Funny, yes. Also painfully familiar.
In IT, the problem is worse because the thing being sold is rarely a finished product on a shelf. A website, app, AI workflow, or internal platform is usually closer to building a machine around a business process. Two projects can sound identical in one sentence and differ by months once you look at the details.
Still, hiding every price behind "contact us for a quote" is not good enough. Clients need a starting point. They need to know whether the conversation is about hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands. We agree.
That is why we publish our starting prices:
- Hourly flat rate: from $39/hour
- Monthly static payment: from $2699/month
Those numbers are not magic. They come from the actual ingredients of software delivery.
Why software pricing is difficult
Time and material work is hard to estimate because software projects contain unknowns. Some unknowns are technical: an API may be poorly documented, a legacy codebase may be fragile, or a mobile app may need device-specific behaviour that only appears during testing.
Other unknowns are business-related: the team may still be discovering the workflow, the decision-makers may change requirements, or the "small admin panel" may turn into the real product.
This is why honest pricing starts with separating what is known from what is still uncertain.
If the scope is clear, we can estimate tightly. If the scope is still forming, we can give a realistic range and recommend a discovery sprint before promising a fixed result.
Where the price comes from
Software cost is not only "developer writes code." A serious project usually includes:
- Discovery: clarifying goals, users, features, risks, and integrations.
- UX and interface design: turning a vague idea into screens people can actually use.
- Frontend development: the part users see and interact with.
- Backend development: data, business logic, permissions, APIs, and automation.
- Integrations: payments, CRM, email, analytics, maps, AI models, third-party APIs.
- Testing and QA: checking real workflows, edge cases, devices, and browsers.
- Project management: planning, prioritisation, calls, delivery control, and documentation.
- Launch and support: deployment, monitoring, fixes, and post-launch adjustments.
The more uncertainty, integrations, permissions, user roles, edge cases, and business-critical workflows a project has, the more it costs. Not because anyone wants to make it expensive, but because every extra moving part must be designed, built, tested, and supported.
Our two basic pricing models
We use two simple starting models, depending on the type of work.
Hourly flat rate: from $39/hour
Hourly work is best when the scope is flexible or the project needs to move in stages.
Use it for:
- bug fixing and improvements;
- audits and technical discovery;
- feature development;
- prototypes and MVP exploration;
- tasks where priorities may change during delivery.
The advantage is flexibility. You do not have to define everything perfectly before starting. The tradeoff is that the final cost depends on how much work the project actually needs.
Monthly static payment: from $2699/month
Monthly work is best when you need ongoing development capacity.
Use it for:
- dedicated developers;
- long-term product development;
- maintenance and continuous improvement;
- scaling an existing team;
- ongoing AI, automation, or integration work.
The advantage is predictability. You know the monthly budget and can plan delivery around steady capacity. The tradeoff is that you need enough ongoing work to use that capacity well.
Typical project price ranges
Every project still needs a real estimate, but these examples give a practical orientation before the first call.
Business website: usually 3-6 weeks
A professional business website normally includes structure, copy support, responsive design, development, contact forms, SEO basics, analytics, and launch support.
Simple brochure-style websites start lower. Websites with custom animations, many service pages, multilingual content, calculators, booking flows, or CRM integration cost more.
WordPress website: from small fixes to full builds
WordPress work can be quick when the task is clear: theme fixes, plugin setup, speed optimisation, landing pages, forms, or migration.
The cost grows when WordPress becomes a full business system: custom post types, membership logic, WooCommerce, multilingual setup, advanced SEO, or third-party integrations.
Mobile app MVP: usually 8-16 weeks
A mobile MVP usually includes iOS and Android screens, authentication, backend, database, core user flows, push notifications if needed, testing, and release preparation.
Flutter can reduce cost when one shared codebase fits the product. Native iOS and Android cost more when the app needs deeper device access, complex performance, or platform-specific behaviour.
Custom web app: usually 6 weeks to 4 months
Custom web apps vary the most. A dashboard with a few roles and simple data flows may be relatively compact. A platform with payments, admin tools, permissions, reporting, automation, and external integrations is a larger system.
This is where discovery matters most. The price comes from the workflows, not the label "web app."
AI automation: from focused workflow to business system
AI work is cheapest when the target is specific: summarise meeting transcripts, classify emails, generate structured replies, route leads, or create reports from existing data.
It becomes more expensive when AI must connect to multiple systems, handle sensitive data, run locally, support human review, maintain logs, or operate reliably without supervision.
Web3 and smart contracts: price depends on risk
Web3 projects are priced around security and responsibility. A simple token or wallet integration is one level of work. A smart contract that controls money, royalties, referrals, NFTs, or marketplace logic requires deeper testing and often an external audit.
In blockchain, a cheap mistake can become very expensive after launch.
What makes a project cheaper
You can reduce cost without reducing quality if you bring clarity early.
The most useful inputs are:
- a short description of the business goal;
- examples of similar products or competitors;
- must-have features versus nice-to-have features;
- existing branding, copy, designs, or technical documentation;
- list of integrations;
- launch deadline;
- who will approve decisions.
The fastest way to make software expensive is to start building before the real requirements are understood.
What we are changing
We do not want pricing to feel like a black box.
So we are making pricing more visible across Vasilkoff:
- publishing clear starting prices on our Pricing page;
- explaining when hourly work makes sense and when monthly capacity is better;
- giving typical ranges for common project types;
- using discovery to reduce uncertainty before large commitments;
- telling clients when something is likely small, medium, or complex before the quote is final.
That does not mean every project can have an instant fixed price. It means we should never force people to guess the order of magnitude.
If the work is small, we will say so. If the risk is high, we will explain why. If a cheaper path exists, we will recommend it.
Start with a range, then make it real
A transparent price is not always a single number. Sometimes it is a range with a clear explanation.
That is still much better than silence.
If you are planning a website, app, AI automation, or custom platform, start with our pricing page or send the brief through the contact page. We will help turn the idea into a realistic scope, budget, and delivery plan.
No radio broadcast required.